We used to think that skateboarding was just about the dumbest “sport” in the world to get Olympic consideration, but then we saw that the International Olympic Committee was looking at ballroom dancing for their next big attraction. In fact, the IOC was responsible for getting the ball rolling on the whole idea by declaring ballroom dancing as Dance-Sport. Now, with the whole Dancing With the Stars sensation that is sweeping the nation, it’s starting to look like ballroom dancing Dance-Sport is well on its way to boring the Olympics’ entire male contingency within the next decade.
Anybody who has done it knows it’s a sport because it’s hard,” said James Fraser, International Dance Sport Federation Presidium member. The point of the name change, he said, was “to direct the whole consciousness of what we’re doing to a sport rather than an art.”
There’s no doubt it can be physically taxing. The muscle exertion and breathing rates of competitors in a two-minute ballroom dance were equal to those of cyclists, swimmers and an Olympic 800-meter runner during the same time, according to a 1986 study at the University of Freiburg, Germany.
In 2002 DanceSport submitted a request to be considered for admission to the Olympics. The IOC considers several factors in adding a sport, including the sport’s history and tradition, popularity and cost. DanceSport will not be included in the 2012 Olympic Games but could be added in 2016.
In its report last summer on future Olympic Games, the IOC asked DanceSport to increase its spectatorship and television viewership, both of which the dancing community has been doing steadily.
About the only positive to come from this whole ordeal is that we feel certain there’s a Dance-Sport spoof in the near future starring Will Ferrell.
Links:
[KansasCity.com]: Could ballroom dancing be next Olympic sport?
